Formula 1
French GP will start "a new championship" for Alonso
Alpine Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso says "a new championship" will start for him from mid-June's French Grand Prix while he still gets up to speed after a two-year absence.
Filip Cleeren Oleg Karpov
Edited: Feb 11, 2022, 6:41 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Alonso has so far struggled on his F1 comeback after two years out, having been outqualified by Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon in the past four races. Ocon raked in 12 of Alpine's 17 points, with just five points scored by the double world champion.
The Spaniard believes the nature of the 2021 F1 calendar has made the first part of the season harder for him, because he hadn't raced at Imola since 2006 and had never raced before at Portimao, two circuits that were added to the calendar last year.
Those circuits were followed by the challenging street circuits of Monaco, at which Alonso finished 13th, and this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, prompting Alonso to suggest that the French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard will feel like a new start for him.
"In a way the start of the season is not the best possible calendar for a newcoming driver," Alonso said. "I had Imola, I had Portimao, two circuits that I was not racing for years or never like in Portimao, and the guys were racing four months ago in the last year championship. And then two street circuits, Baku and Monaco.
"So, [from] the first six races of the championship four were extremely challenging to get used to. From France a new championship hopefully starts for me. But yeah, on the steering side I hope we can get something that I feel a little bit better the balance of the car [with] and more feedback than what I feel now."
Read Also:
- Alonso: Second place used to lead to ‘funeral’ atmosphere
- How box office Alonso is still proving his star quality in F1
Alonso believes getting on top of Pirelli's tyres will be crucial to performing better in qualifying than he has done so far, saying he needs to a better job of understanding "the variables" of an F1 weekend.
"I think it is a little bit random what do we get. I will not say that it is a luck factor, but there is something that is hidden," he added. "At different times of the weekend some people [are] at the back of the grid in FP2, some people in FP3, some people in Q2.
" So, why all these variables are happening in a weekend, you know? And as I said, it's not down to luck. We need to understand better. But I'm not worried. I've been very strong all weekend in a way, comparing the first weekends. I was happy, and I was strong in the race.
"There's still 18 races to go in the championship and we will do the mathematics in December, not now."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Ocon to leave talks with Alpine over new F1 contract to management
Next article When Montoya put Williams back on top in Monaco
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Filip Cleeren
Winners and losers from F1's chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
4 h
Winners and losers from F1's chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix
F1 Brazilian GP: Lando Norris wins in mixed conditions, Mercedes clinch constructors’ title
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
8 h
F1 Brazilian GP: Lando Norris wins in mixed conditions, Mercedes clinch constructors’ title
More from
Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin knew before Mexico GP it would not finish, Honda brings new countermeasures
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
Aston Martin knew before Mexico GP it would not finish, Honda brings new countermeasures
Why Honda’s power unit lasted barely five laps in F1 Mexico GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
Why Honda’s power unit lasted barely five laps in F1 Mexico GP
More from
Alpine
Pierre Gasly on Franco Colapinto fan pressure: “Once you deal with Helmut Marko, anything else is no pressure”
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
16 h
Pierre Gasly on Franco Colapinto fan pressure: “Once you deal with Helmut Marko, anything else is no pressure”
Alpine drivers penalised post-race, Ryo Hirakawa scores on F1 debut at Mexico GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
Alpine drivers penalised post-race, Ryo Hirakawa scores on F1 debut at Mexico GP
Latest news
Final NASCAR Cup points standings after 2026 Homestead finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
2 h
Final NASCAR Cup points standings after 2026 Homestead finale
Official race results: NASCAR Cup Homestead season finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
3 h
Official race results: NASCAR Cup Homestead season finale
Ryan Blaney wins Homestead NASCAR Cup finale as Kyle Larson claims 2026 title
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
3 h
Ryan Blaney wins Homestead NASCAR Cup finale as Kyle Larson claims 2026 title
Winners and losers from F1's chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
4 h
Winners and losers from F1's chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix
Feature
Discover prime content
How F1’s rules got to be so complex
Formula 1
By Pat Symonds
How F1’s rules got to be so complex
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe